Statement by Mr. SHANG Zhen, Chinese Delegate, at the Sixth Committee of the 60th Session of the UN General Assembly, on Item 82: Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization

2005/10/14

New York, 14 October 2005

Mr. Chairman,

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Special Committee. Over the past thirty years, the Special Committee has drafted eight important legal documents which were later adopted by the General Assembly, thus making outstanding contributions to the strengthening of the role of the United Nations, the maintenance of international peace and security and the improvement of relations among states. The work of the Special Committee merits high commendation and the Chinese delegation wishes that the Special Committee will carry forward its work and forge ahead into the future to score greater achievements.

Mr. Chairman, I wish now to make the following remarks on some items considered by the Special Committee this year.

On assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions, the Chinese delegation believes that this question should first be accorded full attention and be treated as a priority. Meanwhile, a two-pronged approach is required. Namely, introduction and implementation of sanctions should be prudent and limited, and a methodology should be developed expeditious to assess the impact of preventive or enforcement measures on third States. Active efforts should also be made to explore practical ways to provide international assistance to those States. Under the current circumstances, efforts should be made to minimize losses suffered by third States through multiple channels such as financial arrangements or economic assistance.

On basic conditions and standard criteria for sanctions, the Chinese delegation is of the view that sanctions should only be resorted to when all peaceful means of settlement of disputes have been exhausted and the implementation of sanction should be carried out in accordance with strict criteria, especially in compliance with relevant provisions of the Charter and international law. There should be precise time frames for sanctions with their effects and impact assessed timely and objective. The revised working paper submitted by the Russian delegation entitled “Declaration on the basic conditions and standard criteria for the introduction and implementation of sanctions and other coercive measures” is of positive and practical significance. We hope that the Special Committee will complete its deliberations on the document at an early date.

On development of a set of guiding principles for UN peacekeeping operations, the Chinese delegation endorses the basic idea of the working document submitted by the Russian delegation entitled “Fundamentals of the legal basis for United Nations peacekeeping operations in the context of Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations”. It is our view that deliberations in other UN bodies on the issue of peacekeeping do not affect the Special Committee’s consideration in the legal context of the question of peacekeeping directly related to the Charter. UN peacekeeping operations are important means for maintaining international peace and security developed by the United Nations in the long term practice. Thus, it would be useful and beneficial to summarize timely experiences and lessons learned in peacekeeping operations and accordingly standardize and institutionalize those operations.

On improving working methods of the Special Committee and ways of enhancing its efficiency, the Chinese delegation appreciates the efforts made in this regard by some states. All parties should, in the spirit of pragmatism and consensus, explore ways of improving the work of the Special Committee and enhancing its efficiency.

On the current status and the future of the Trusteeship Council, paragraph 176 of the Outcome Document of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the current session of the General Assembly has provided the direction for the work of the Special Committee. Work concerning the amendment to the Charter should, however, proceed with care. Relevant work may proceed in accordance with the Special Committee’s proposal to implement, as appropriate, any decisions that may be taken at the High-level Plenary Meeting that concern the Charter of the United Nations and any amendments thereto.

Mr. Chairman, the Chinese delegation expresses its concern over the drastic curtailment of the duration of the Special Committee session this year. We wish to reiterate that the work of the Special Committee should be greatly reinforced rather than weakened as the United Nations commemorates its sixtieth anniversary with its reform just unfolding. The Chinese delegation supports further consideration of the existing items and calls for expeditious agreement first on well-deliberated items.